Eric Matthews and His Knight
by Kat Lee formerly Pirate Turner
Summary: Eric has a date with his fated, fateful, and loving Knight.  Slash.  4th of Will's 13 Days of Halloween series for Jack in year 2010.


Title: "Eric Matthews and His Knight"  
Author: Pirate Turner  
For: My beloved Jack and our babies as a bit of a Halloween/Samhain/Anniversary present in this chaotic time of our lives  
Rating: PG-13  
Summary: Eric has a date with his fated, fateful, and loving Knight.  
Warnings: Slash, Established Relationships, Future Fic  
Word Count: 4,047  
Disclaimer: Alan, Amy, Eric, Cory, and Morgan Matthews; George Feeny; Shawn and Jack Hunter; Topanga Lawrence; all other characters mentioned within; and Boy Meets World are & TM their resective owners, none of which are the author; are used without permission; and may not be used without permission. Everything else is & TM the author. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.

Eric paused as the gymnasium doors slammed shut behind him. They echoed through his mind like the slamming of a steel cage, or a casket. He gulped as his eyes darted nervously about the party. He shouldn't be here, not alone, not without him, the man who'd claimed his very heart and soul forever and beyond, but yet his love had refused to come with him and their argument had led to words that Eric would regret just as long as he would love him.

He closed his eyes as he again heard George's furious voice resonating in his mind. He didn't understand why he couldn't see that he loved him and that that was all that mattered to him, not the years that separated them or the way society would sneer down upon them. He didn't give a flip what other people thought and seldom had except for a few certain individuals when he'd still been a teenager trying to find his way in the world.

A gentle smile with happiness and sorrow mixed and intermingled in its carving curved Eric's soft lips. He had been as lost as a kid at sea, and George had seen that and a potential that not even he had known he possessed - and that he still doubted he held. His lips parted, and a soft sigh blew out from his mouth. He was only a boy. He'd never be worthy of George's love. Had he not as much told him that the night before?

No, Eric argued with himself, he'd said nothing of the kind! He'd told him only that he would love to go to the dance with him but could not for it would cause them nothing but trouble as he was still a boy. Still a boy. The words echoed in his mind. He was twenty-one now, and yet George looked at him as though he was still a boy. He supposed, to him, he would always be for his beloved Feeny was a man of the world. No other man possessed such depth, charm, wit, or intelligence as overflowed from Feeny's amazing mind, and no one ever would.

Eric's brown eyes burst open as he was suddenly jostled. He glared at the linebacker who was rushing pass him with two cheerleaders on his arms. "Hey, watch it! You almost knocked me down!"

The local football star flashed him a broad, irritating grin from pearly white teeth. "You're the one who needs to watch it," he countered. "Ya shouldn't be standing in the door like that. Ya're just asking for somebody to knock ya down!" His grin grew, and his dark eyes sparkled. "I could do that for ya if ya want, ya know." He laughed, and Eric's fingers curled as the anger that had already been lacing through his soul began to build. "Knock ya down and all. It'd do yer face a favor, and I'm sure all the girls would appreciate it."

The cheerleaders giggled in appreciation of the jock's joke. Eric's eyes flashed, and he started forward, his hands balling into tight fists. He had been made fun of more than enough while he'd been at this school, and he certainly wasn't going to put up with more insults at a dance to which he should have just thrown out the thought of his attendance the moment that Feeny had refused to attend it with him.

Before Eric could reach the jock, however, something tapped the larger boy on his shoulder. He whirled around with a startled look, intending to ask, "What?", but the word froze in his throat as he found himself staring down the long, shining blade of a sword. His eyes grew as large as saucers, and he suddenly found his lost football lodged in his throat. He tried to force out a taunting remark, but all that he could get pass the lump of fear in his throat was a mere squeak.

"I suggest," the Knight who wielded the sword spoke in a firm but pronounced and gallant voice that instantly caressed Eric's ears and made his heart soar higher than the clouds, "that you go about your errands of the night, sir, and leave this young gentleman be . . . " His voice trembled, and Eric's jaw dropped open in shock as he added after a brief moment's hesitation, " . . . lest I strike you with the unyielding force of Cupid's bow."

Eric gasped as a heat warmer, brighter, and more fulfilling than anything else he'd ever felt before in all his life spread through him, curling the ends of his brown hair and the tips of his toes. The warmth flushed his face as it lit up in the biggest smile he had ever worn. His mouth opened to cry out his love's name, but he shut it quickly, lest he give his identity away. Feeny really did want the whole world to know he was his and that they loved each other; he truly was just scared of the outcome if they discovered his identity! Eric smiled dumbfoundedly even as gasps continued to resound amongst the gathered crowd.

"EW!" the head cheerleader exclaimed, crinkling her nose in distaste and backing away lest Eric's Knight in shining armor contaminate her with invisible gay germs. "You two," she said, her eyes darting back and forth between the young man dressed as a pageboy and the Knight, of whose real identity she could not make out a single detail, "are together?"

"Indeed, madam," Feeny declared boldly, "I am in possession of that grand and wondrous right to claim yon pageboy as my forever love! That is, if he would still gift me with that love?" he questioned, his eyes peering out of his shadowy visor in longing quest for the answers he ached to hear from his beloved Eric.

"That is so wrong, dude! You're all going to Hell!" The jock huffed, grasped the cheerleaders' hands, and started to pull them away.

Eric's mouth flew open to respond to the crude remark, but his beloved George beat him to the proverbial punch. "If Hell doth open its gates wide and belch forth flame to conquer us, as long as I hold to my love's hand, I shall feel no fear nor pain for with him, I am complete and in Heaven as long as I doth possess his love."

"I don't know," the second cheerleader commented with a giggle. "I think they're kinda cute!"

"Ew!" the head cheerleader repeated even as the jock dropped the second cheerleader's hand in shock.

"Well, they are! They're in love!"

"They're in gay love!"

"Gays can't love! That's just . . . wrong!"

"How can love, in any of its forms so grand, be wrong?" Feeny queried rhetorically.

"It's not," Eric said simply, stepping up to the one man who would, for all eternity and beyond, be the gloriously shining love and light of his life, closing the distance between them, and holding out his hand to him. "I love you."

Though he could not see his face in the protection of his helmet, Eric felt George's beaming, brilliant smile as he curled his gauntleted hand around his seemingly much smaller hand. "And I love you, my darling." He raised his hand to his lips and kissed it softly. Eric trembled with delight as he did so, and his mustache tickled him ever so gently. "Can you ever forgive me for giving you cause to doubt that?" he queried boldly, purposefully ignoring the growing crowd watching them.

"Can you forgive me," Eric asked, "for being such an idiot to think that in the first place? I'm so sorry for everything, Geo - " He stopped himself just before he could name his wonderful, loving Knight and shook his head sadly. Tears shone in his eyes as he gazed up at the man he loved, and George ached to strip away his armor, hold his dearest heart in his arms, and wipe away those tears.

"Let not your tears fall for me, oh great love of my life, for it was my own ignorance that caused them to fall like rain last night, be it always to my utmost regret just as stands the fact that I may never shed the secret of my identity lest this area become unlivable for us."

"I've told you before, love, I don't care what they think!"

"No," George countered, his deep, rich voice continuing to sweep Eric's heated feelings of passion, pleasure, and arousal along into the mind-melting tornado in which only he had ever caught him up, "but what of your parents, your family? If they were to deign to look upon you with hatred, how would you feel?"

Eric searched the enchanting eyes gazing intently at him from the shadowy depths of George's visor. "Is that really the reason?" he asked.

George splayed his other hand out toward the crowd. "Am I not here, my dearest?"

Eric nodded, beaming. "Yeah."

Being very careful not to crush his fragile bones inside his gauntlet, Feeny gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "Shall we dance then, my love, dance the night away in the blissful amour with which we've been blessed for all eternity as long as none doth look upon us in truth?"

Grinning from ear to ear, Eric nodded. "Yeah!" he exclaimed, and his heart soared even higher, pass the furthest recesses of the stars and then the galaxy itself, as his beloved Feeny lead him out onto the dance floor in front of the entire school, including almost every face from their neighborhood.

The mouth of a certain curly-haired boy opened to speak, but to his shock, Cory found his father's hand clamped over his mouth. "Not a word, Cor," Alan warned him firmly. "Your brother's happy."

"Butdats - " Cory tried haplessly to speak despite the hand covering his mouth.

"I know who it is." A quick glance around their family confirmed that every one was very well aware of what was truly happening before them. "We all know who it is, but they're happy. We love them. Eric's our son, and the other one might as well be a member of our family as well. And they're happy. That's all that matters."

Topanga hugged herself where she stood before her husband's mother. "Yeah," she agreed. "Don't say anything, Cory," she said, turning watery eyes upon him, "please."

"Yeah, Cor," Shawn put in, meeting Cory's shocked eyes, "don't blow it for them. Let them be happy."

Cory heard Shawn's unspoken words and nodded against his father's hand. He wondered how no one else had realized that that was indeed George Feeny underneath all that armor, but he knew from the way the others were whispering about the possible identity of the Knight that nobody else had the first clue as to his real identity.

Alan let him go, pulled his wife close, and followed George and Eric out onto the floor. If their neighbors were going to persist in gawking at his son and their love, then they could certainly gawk just as well at he and his wife.

"Shawn - " Cory started to speak, but Topanga grabbed his hand and whisked him out to the dance floor.

One by one, their friends joined them in the spotlight, and Eric was amazed, as his beloved Feeny whirled him around, to see that his entire family, minus only little Morgan, was out there, dancing with them and showing their unquestioning, and unwavering, support of him. They might not know it was Feeny underneath the armor, but they knew that he was in love with a man . . . And they didn't care! His heart sang even louder and soared higher at their simple signs of acceptance, and then when his parents danced purposefully closer and Alan whispered to his son's loving Knight, "Treat our boy right, George," tears began to spread down both George's and Eric's handsome faces.

They trembled in each other's arms, and Eric's voice shook as he questioned, "D-D-Dad?"

Alan smiled warmly at him. "It's okay, Eric. As long as you both love each other and he keeps you happy, that's all that matters to us."

"Thank you," George spoke softly, his words a mere breath of a whisper, but Alan heard him despite the music. He smiled, nodded, and danced his wife away to give them privacy.

Eric was crying as George pulled him close again, and he felt tears fall upon his head. He gazed up into the shadows and saw George's smile but also his eyes filled with tears. "I love you," he whispered.

"And I you, my darling," George answered huskily. "I've just been made the happiest and luckiest man ever to breathe."

"Nah," Eric said with a shake of his head, his hair brushing his armor. "You can't be."

"Why is that?" Feeny wondered aloud, and Eric could hear the spreading warmth of his smile reflected in his wonderfully sensual voice.

He shrugged as he leaned up on his tip toes and answered, "Because I am," and then, in front of the whole world, or at least their entire part of it, he kissed the man he loved. Time stood still for the lovers as George returned the kiss and they continued to kiss each other with growing passion and heat, pouring all the unending and fulfilling love and wondrous passion they'd always only feel for one another into that blissful kiss.

"Aw, that's so sweet!" Joey crooned, wiping tears from his eyes.

"Yeah," agreed Harley, also sniffling. He took the tissue out of Joey's hand and dabbed at his own eyes with it. "Inn't it, boss?" he queried, looking at Frankie for affirmation.

Before the trio's leader could answer his boys amongst the growing murmur of parents and teenagers alike, the jock spoke up again. "Are ya kidding? It's disgusting! They should been thrown out!" He grabbed a cup out of another student's hand and started to throw it at the lovers who the whole school was watching in shock.

Shawn moved forward, stepped on his foot, and grasped the cup. The jock swung, but Shawn ducked, missing the blow a mere second before it could connect with his face. He threw the cup far away from them and dodged out from underneath the jock's grasping arm. He looked up and grimaced at the sight of the fist closing in on his face.

Yet, before the jock's fist could connect, another hand grabbed his fist and squeezed. The jock screamed out, "Hey, that's my throwing hand!"

"Should've thought about that before you bothered our little buddy there."

Since when, Shawn wondered, had he ever been their buddy? Yet he kept his mouth shut and dared not speak. He'd learned long ago that it was better by far, when dealing with two enemies, to simply let them take each other out if the opportunity arose.

Frankie spoke up again. "And for dismissing love and being so down right rude."

"But - But they're guys!"

"Yeah, and we're guys," Harley snorted, "and we're gonna show you what you get for . . . for dis- . . disra- . . . disrespecting love! Ain't that right, boss?"

"Yup!" Joey enthused. "Give him the royal Trick or Treat flush, boys!" He grinned deviously up at the jock. "Halloween night's going to hold nothing but tricks for you," he announced, "and treats for the rest of us . . . " He turned to glare at the crowd who had turned their attention from Eric Matthews and his Knight to the three young men who had always been regarded as bullies and the jock who would be suffering at their hands in only a few short minutes. " . . . unless anybody else wants to talk bad about Eric and his man?"

The members of the crowd quickly shook their heads and hurried away. Some actually ran, so desperate were they to put distance between themselves and the bullies.

Shawn smiled and shook his head. "I never would have thought you'd do something like that, Frankie."

"Still don't know me very well, do ya, Shawnie boy?" Frankie returned. Then, to Shawn's shock and amazement, he winked and blew him a kiss. "Ya oughta take a lesson from them and go sweep your Matthews off of his feet." Shawn watched, completely unaware of his mouth hanging open, as Frankie led away his boys, who were carrying the kicking, squirming, and bemoaning jock, off to the toilets.

A gentle elbow against his arm finally stirred Shawn from his shock, and he turned to find Jack smiling at him. "He's right, you know."

"Cory's not gay! He's married!"

Jack snorted. "Yeah, and you really love Angela." He smiled and relented a tad as he continued, "Look, Shawn, if Eric didn't already have a man, I'd be happy to be the one dancing him across that floor, but he has a man. He's in love. Do you really think Cory loves Topanga?" He shook his head. "He doesn't, not any more than you love Angela, but he's scared of admitting the truth."

Shawn blushed. "Actually," he confessed, running a finger around the inside of his collar and trying to give himself more room to breathe as he suddenly felt the room closing in upon him, "Cory's more truthful with me and our feelings than you think."

"Then why aren't you out there with him?"

"We didn't think his parents would accept, and we knew Topanga's wouldn't."

Jack stared at him. "So it's a charade?"

Shawn's blush deepened, and he looked away quickly. His eyes rested on Cory for a moment before flitting nervously off into the crowd. "I didn't say that," he said quickly, his voice squeaking with his nerves, "but I've gotta go."

Jack smiled. "Sure you do," he answered, but he let his half-brother beat a hasty retreat nonetheless. He smiled, folded his arms across his chest, and leaned against the back wall as he continued to watch the couples, both those who were in love and those who were not, dancing across the gymnasium floor. He had learned long ago, back when Eric and he had been college room mates, that Halloween truly was a night full of magic, and whereas the magic he'd first been introduced to was the evil kind that still made his skin crawl with but a thought to it and which he never wanted to face again as long as he lived, the world tonight was also filled with good magic, the magic of love that filled the hearts of some of his best friends.

He sighed softly as he wished that he could have just a taste of that awe-inspiring love. He'd had feelings for Eric at one time but had soon discovered that his heart belonged entirely to another and that he would never be that lucky some one. "Care to dance?" a soft voice protruded into his thoughts. He blinked and found himself gazing into the dark, twinkling eyes of a man with dark hair that pooled in raven rivulets just pass his shoulders. The man smiled at him. "I used to love him, too, once, but even if we can never have him, we can still show our support."

Jack smiled and accepted the man's offered hand. The former teacher swept him out to the dance floor to show his support of his favorite student, a young man whose love had changed his life forever more, even if that love had never been directed at him in the way for which Jonathan Turner had so longed. He wondered who the lucky man hidden by the armor could be and rather he would ever know him.

"Eric," George spoke softly, twirling them about again, "I will remove my helmet if you ask me to do so."

Eric paused. He'd ached for the world to know that the wonderful George Feeny belonged to him for years now, but yet . . . What would happen to his career if the school board knew that he had fallen in love with a student? What would happen to the kids who would never get to know the awesome hero who was his love? What would happen to those children who would be overlooked by all the other teachers, as he would have been if not for George?

If not for his beloved and favorite teacher reaching out to him and making him realize new depths to his soul and mind that he'd never known existed, Eric would still be as lost today as he had been ten years ago, yet because of Feeny, he knew things he'd never thought he could know and never would have thought existed or happened. It wasn't all about the remarkable love that they shared, a love for which he was grateful with every breath he breathed. He would have never amounted to anything except a lost kid if it hadn't been for George.

"What would the school board do?" he whispered thoughtfully.

The metal of George's armor clanked as he lifted his shoulders into a shrug. "Most likely discharge me," he admitted.

Eric shook his head. "No," he said, giving him a tight squeeze around the waist. "Feeny, I'm the man I am because of you. Mostly because you love me, but also because you took the time to see in me what I didn't even know was there and would have said wasn't there if I'd been asked. You saw what I was capable of when I didn't think I was capable of being anything more than a flirt and didn't like the boy I was. You saw the real me, and you helped me find and become the real me. I love you, and that's only one of the million reasons why!" He leaned up and kissed him again, this time more chastely than before.

Then, settling back onto the shoed heels of his feet and still gazing up into the lovely eyes of the man he loved, he continued, "I'd love for the world to know that we're together, that you're mine and I'm yours, but I can't steal that away from the kids that haven't met you yet. They need you. Not as much as I do, but they still need you. I can wait to let the world know you're mine." His grin took an impish turn. "But when the day comes that you're really ready to retire and stay retired, I'm gonna get up on the top of this school house and the college and I'm gonna scream out to the world that I love you and you love me and that we're gonna be together forever and beyond!"

George chuckled, and the deep, rich sound resonated in his suit of armor. He hugged Eric more tightly but remained careful not to crush his fine, young love in his armor. "Thank you, Eric, and when that day comes," he promised, "if you'll help me get up there, I'll scream the same words for all to hear."

It was Eric's turn to laugh, and he did so heartily as he continued to beam up at his love. "Now that I'd love to see, but not as much as I love you! I could never love anything or any one as much as I love you, Faheeeny," he whispered his name in the teasing way he'd used to call him so many times in the past and would continue to do so for countless times in their brilliantly shining future together.

"Nor I you, my darling Eric. Happy Halloween, my love!" He began to angle downwards for his mouth.

Eric stood again upon his tiptoes and met George's cascading lips as he whispered back, "It is indeed the best one I've ever had, all thanks to you, my love! I love you, Faheeeny!" They kissed, their tongues slipping into one another mouth's and sparking a duel of passion, romance, and love that would never die. They kissed and danced the rest of the night away, and when every one else was long gone and the music had even stopped playing several hours before, they were still dancing, soaring on the wings of love that would carry them and guide their every step throughout eternity and beyond, all of which, all of time, that they would spend together and blissfully, wondrously, completely in love!

**The End**


End file.
